The Rafa Benitez saga continued yesterday, as he demanded answers from Liverpool's ownership about his status for next season.  The speculation this weekend was that he had a secret deal in place to take over at Juventus and give the Italian club the high profile manager they were seeking, but so far that rumor has yet to […]

Inter Milan skipper Jose Mourinho, expected by many to leave Serie A and head to Real Madrid this summer, has already started scouting some new team members. According to the Daily Mail, Mourinho is looking to woo Chelsea legend Frank Lampard on a £30 million deal. Mourinho and Lampard spent three years together when the Portuguese managed […]

The sprinklers rose up from the pitch and sprayed the Inter Milan players and staff.  The Barcelona anthem, "Cant del Barça," blared through the loudspeakers as the Culés did not know whether to clap off their Blaugrana heroes or vehemently whistle at the unwanted visitors from northern Italy.  This sense of confusion permeated throughout the […]

Dear Special One, Or, is it Mr. Special? Excuse my error in salutation, if in fact I committed one. I wish to take a fleeting moment to put pen to paper and congratulate you on your recent 0-1 loss to current world "dominators" Barcelona FC. I've in fact never seen such an emphatic "jump for joy" […]

After Jose Mourinho's triumphant Champions League semi-final victory against Barcelona over two legs, you have to wonder where he goes from here. If he's able to coach his Internationale team to victory in the final against Bayern Munich, the world is Mourinho's oyster. New manager at Real Madrid? Sure, if the price is right (and […]

Patrick Barclay, one of the top English football authors and journalists in the world, is the guest on the EPL Talk Vodcast. In part one of a five part interview series, Barclay discusses Jose Mourinho, which stadium is his spiritual home, the art of writing, the one match most recently that astounded him, what it […]

With less than 3 months to go until England's first group game against the U.S.A on June 12th in the World Cup and one particular pair of positions are causing more problems than anyone envisaged. At full strength, the English full-backs picked themselves with Ashley Cole easily making a case for being the best left […]

Proponents of the notion that the Premier League is the best in the world – an oft repeated mantra – might want to shut up for once and take a look at the Champions League this year. For the past few years, English clubs have dominated the latter stages, now they’re down to two already. […]

Chelsea has been eliminated from UEFA Champions League, having lost 1-0 to José Mourinho and Internazionale at Stamford Bridge, leaving the tournament on Tuesday after a 3-1 aggregate defeat. On this edition of the EPL Talk podcast, Kartik Krishnaiyer and myself review the Special One's return to the Bridge and ask how the surviving English […]

It looks like another scudetto wouldn't be enough for Inter Milan's management. ESPN Soccernet is reporting that Inter owner Massimo Moratti wants former Manchester United and French national team star Laurent Blanc as his manager next year if the squad fails to advance to at least the finals of the Champions League.  The Nerazzurri beat […]

Jose. What a man. He patrols the touchline, immaculately dressed part drama queen, part coach. Watching Inter Milan on TV is essential viewing, less for the football than for the Jose show. Love or loath him, he is compulsive viewing. It’s a no-holds barred exercise in facial expressions and physical theater. He goes through a […]

This weekend's action has a wealth of subplots, controversy, and exciting soccer play.  But the main story line out of this weekend is the standings.  Right now, the top four spots in the Serie A standings are occupied by the clubs most thought would occupy them in some order: Inter Milan, AS Roma, AC Milan, […]

Fans of AC Milan have suffered through a bad four weeks, beginning by losing to short-handed rival Inter and most recently suffering a devastating defeat in their Champions League match versus Manchester United.  This comes the same week that Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi criticized Leonardo's managerial style and encouraged him to allow his team to […]

We have seen the powerful Inter of Mourinho, we saw it power through AC Milan with only nine men, we saw a war machine unleashed against Cagliari, demolishing them 3-0. But we have not seen this super style of play in the Champions League, Mourinho claims that this year's Inter Milan team is finally his, […]

Franco Baresi is one of the first names to come to anybody’s mind when you mention the Libero (or sweeper) position, simply because he was the on-field general and symbol of Arrigo Sacchi’s great Milan side in the late 1980s; a side that arguably boasted one of the greatest defences of all time. Bearing in […]